Ukraine hails U.S. military aid as cease-fire said to falter
KYIV, UKRAINE
Ukraine’s president praised the United States for including tank-killing armored vehicles in its latest multibillion-dollar package of military aid, saying they are “exactly what is needed” for Ukrainian troops locked in combat against Russian forces, even as both sides celebrated Orthodox Christmas on Saturday.
The White House announcement Friday of $3.75 billion in weapons and other aid for Ukraine and its European backers came as Moscow said its troops are observing a short Orthodox Christmas cease-fire.
Ukrainian officials denounced the unilateral 36-hour pause as a ploy and said it appeared to have been ignored by some of Moscow’s forces pressing ahead with the nearly 11-month invasion. Ukrainian officials reported Russian shelling attacks in the Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions on Saturday.
Russia’s Defense Ministry insisted Saturday that its forces along the 684mile front line were observing the Kremlin-ordered truce, but returned fire when attacked.
The latest package of U.S. military assistance was the biggest to date for
Ukraine. For the first time, it included 50 Bradley armored vehicles and 500 of the anti-tank missiles they can fire. Germany also announced it would supply around 40 Marder armored personnel carriers and France promised wheeled AMX-10 RC tank destroyers.
Together, this week’s pledges were powerful signals that Ukraine can count on continued longterm Western aid against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s drive to dismember the country.
In his nightly televised address on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailed the U.S. aid package as “very powerful.”
“For the first time, we will get Bradley armored vehicles — this is exactly what is needed. New guns and rounds, including high-precision ones, new rockets, new drones. It is timely and strong,” he said.
He thanked President Joe Biden, U.S. lawmakers and “all the Americans who appreciate freedom, and who know that freedom is worth protecting.”
Celebrated by both Ukrainians and Russians, the Orthodox Christmas holiday also underscored the enmity that Russia’s invasion is precipitating between them.
In the fiercely contested Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine, regional Gov.
Serhiy Haidai reported continued Russian shelling and assaults. Posting Friday on Telegram, Haidai said that in the first three hours of the cease-fire, Russian forces shelled Ukrainian positions 14 times and stormed one settlement three times.
The claim couldn’t be independently verified.
Ukrainian authorities on Saturday also reported attacks elsewhere in the previous 24 hours although it wasn’t clear whether the fighting was before or after the cease-fire’s start.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said Russian forces carried out a missile strike and 20 salvos with rockets, and targeted settlements in the east, northeast and south.
The head of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region on Saturday reported two civilian deaths the previous day from Russian strikes in the contested city of Bakhmut.